This is the Forward’s coverage of Jewish culture where you’ll learn about the latest (and sometimes earliest) in Jewish art, music (including of course Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen), film, theater, books as well as the secret Jewish history of…
Culture
-
Why Carl Reiner was the dreamiest boss I ever had
“My secretaries stay a long time,” Carl Reiner said as he greeted me at the start of the job interview, “so I don’t know what I’m supposed to ask.” Okay, I was plotzing to get the job. Though at 26 I’d worked in show business long enough to know that celebrities were often nothing like…
-
Music Bob Dylan becomes oldest artist in UK with a #1 album of new songs
Paul Simon once lamented the fact he always seemed to come in second to Bob Dylan. “I don’t like coming in second,” Simon told Rolling Stone in 2011. Yet, there are some titles where getting second place is not quite so bad. Among them: oldest artist to reach #1 on the UK charts with an…
-
Why Sacha Baron Cohen is the anti-Zuckerberg
On Saturday June 27 in Olympia, Wash., Sacha Baron Cohen appeared incognito at a right-wing rally, leading the crowd in a chorus of gleeful murderous intent. In a false beard and overstuffed overalls, the “Who Is America” comic welcomed rallygoers at the pro-gun “March For Our Rights” event to inject such “liberal” targets as CNN,…
The Latest
-
Amid battle over St. Louis’s name, Archdiocese defends saint who persecuted Jews, Muslims
Weeks after activists in St. Louis, Missouri began calling for the city to tear down the most notable statue of its namesake — and rename itself — the local Archdiocese has come out in defense of the embattled 13th-century saint. King Louis IX, the only French king ever to be canonized, routinely persecuted French Jews…
-
Of course Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner support Black Lives Matter
Anti-racism isn’t just a young person’s game. In a photo that appears to have been taken during Mel Brooks’ 94th birthday celebration on June 28, the director and his lifelong friend, collaborator and dinner companion Carl Reiner and Reiner’s daughter Annie were seen sporting Black Lives Matter t-shirts. MY HEROS CARL REINER ANNIE REINER &…
-
John Wayne certainly had a racist history — does he have a Jewish one?
On the morning of Monday, June 29, 2020, President Donald J. Trump tweeted, “Can anyone believe that Princeton just dropped the name of Woodrow Wilson from their highly respected policy center. Now the Do Nothing Democrats want to take off the name John Wayne from an airport. Incredible stupidity!” It’s no surprise that Trump would…
-
Books An Israeli-American author’s debut brings the road trip novel back to life
There may be no better way of handling a death in the family, at least in the American imagination, than hopping in the car and driving somewhere — anywhere. A road trip, especially to some meaningful destination, can be a gesture of respect for the mourned or a step towards renewal for the mourner. It’s…
-
A right-wing group is pranked by Sacha Baron Cohen — again
Once again proving the adage, often attributed to H.L. Mencken, that no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people, Sacha Baron Cohen resurfaced on Saturday June 27, spending his Shabbos at a “March for our Rights” rally in Olympia, Wash. Dressed like a Halloween scarecrow in a pair or overalls, and…
-
I have delved deep into the sad, socially distant world of Jewish celebrity cameos — I may never recover
Never in the history of entertainment have we had so much intimate access to the stars. We know what’s on their bookshelves. We’ve seen them in bathrobes and minimal makeup. We’ve seen them vulnerable in misguided attempts to bring light into the world. And, on a little app called Cameo, for a nominal or ludicrous…
-
Q&Archives: Telling old stories in new ways with Chana Pollack
This piece originally appeared on the Urban Archivist. Newspaper collections are not always the most impartial historical documents, but they provide a unique account of past events, both important and mundane, as primary resources. Since the vast majority of our partners’ collections are architecturally-focused, the two documentary-style newspaper collections that are available on our platform…
-
‘Unorthodox’ could use some Hasidic sex lessons — and a few interior decorating tips too
Where does one start with “Unorthodox?” With the fake shtreimels which would hardly satisfy a 9-year old Hasidic boy dressing up for Purim? With the grating accents one would struggle to place west of the Vistula, if not the Volga? The home furnishings that may have been the deal during the Weimar years or Eisenhower’s…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Expelled Oberlin Chabad rabbi says he ‘made a mistake’ with explicit social media chats
- 2
Culture Louis Theroux’s Netflix documentary on the manosphere takes a detour into antisemitism
- 3
Fast Forward Illinois primary pits Jewish candidate with deep Israel ties against AIPAC spending
- 4
Opinion Trump has forced an impossible choice on American synagogues amid antisemitic attacks
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Joe Kent, now under investigation, insinuates to Tucker Carlson that Israel might have killed Charlie Kirk to stoke Iran war
-
Fast Forward ‘I’m alive!’: Netanyahu speaks in-person amid ongoing online rumors claiming he’s dead
-
Fast Forward Can James Talarico’s faith-forward politics invigorate the Jewish religious left?
-
Fast Forward JB Pritzker once donated to AIPAC. Now he says he wants nothing to do with it.
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
